


After Hours

by ideallyqualia



Series: Granblue Fantasy [2]
Category: Granblue Fantasy (Video Game)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Different First Meeting, F/F, First Meetings, Pre-Relationship
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-04-22
Updated: 2018-04-22
Packaged: 2019-04-26 04:49:40
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,981
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14394645
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ideallyqualia/pseuds/ideallyqualia
Summary: De La Fille's been invited to the Jewel Resort Casino.





	After Hours

**Author's Note:**

> i wrote this before therese ssr's fate eps came out (it sat around for a while). their canon first meeting is even better than what i imagined/could've ever written buuut im still uploading this because this ship doesnt even have a tag on ao3 yet.

Since the Gem Domain had power and a reputation in jewels of every kind, the royal family was invited to the Jewel Resort Casino on a regular basis. Recently De La Fille had received an invitation to an exhibition of the casino's newest recurring duelist, a young woman named Therese, and according to what she'd heard, Therese was already popular and undefeated. De La Fille had accepted.

She arrived early in the morning, before the crowds could interrupt her greetings with the staff and duelists. Christina found her first.

"De La Fille!" Christina called out. She carried her whip in her hands, and she straightened it before attaching it to her waist and letting it fall. "You are going to love today's match! We found a new duelist. She's already so popular!"

Fille's eyes fell on posters on the walls. Most of them outfitted Therese in battle, swinging her gleaming blue sword with the speed of a blur and a smile on her face, or they showed her in different angles like an interview, but all of them gave glowing mountains of praise. She knew they were just advertisements, but the accolades and glory touted on them pushed the limits of her doubts.

"Aren't you pushing it a little?" Fille asked with a gesture at a poster.

"You don't understand. She's very well loved around here."

"I thought she was new."

"She is." Christina fixed her with a sharp look, defensive with a purpose -- the kind of glare she inflicted on people that disturbed resort peace. "Don't question the popularity. There are fans that would tear you apart if you had this conversation with them."

"Oh, I understand," Fille said. She followed Christina to the backstage area, where Ladiva and a few other duelists were preparing for the day. Whenever there was dueling on the schedule, guest duelists appeared too, new to the stage but eager for prize money. They fumbled trying to prepare in the excitement. Most of them lost, and after losing, they usually didn't return for more participation. Other duelists were regulars but still didn't win as often as fan favorites, and they lingered in obscurity.

Fille didn't see Therese. Before she could look around for her, Christina grabbed her by the shoulders and escorted her out, placating her as they walked by saying, "Wouldn't want to ruin the fun of surprise."

"Fine," Fille grumbled. "I'll get something to eat, then."

"Atta girl." Christina turned without a look back to check if Fille was leaving.

By the time Fille had visited backstage and bought food from the concession counter, the crowds had started to stream in. Fille found her way back to her seat next to Christina, who was already seated, comfortably reclining and looking at Fille impatiently.

"Why are you looking at me like that? I--"

Cheers erupted from the crowd as the duelists entered the stage. One of them was a plain guest challenger, and the other duelist was unmistakably Therese. She lingered in her steps with the speed of reluctance, her feelings undisguised on her face as she eyed the crowd. She didn't inspire any confidence or energy in Fille but she did have a spark of charm to her that made Fille stare. Therese's shyness, overheated face, and hesitant smile that still won out over her hesitation, and Fille's heart raced -- she felt like she wasn't supposed to be able to see someone so vulnerable, even if it was flat out on a stage.

Then Therese pulled out her sword, her arm moving to hold it in a practiced grip with a twist of her wrist, and she shattered her image with her own hands. She struck the challenger's blade, knocking it back with such sharp strength that the challenger staggered. She attacked again and again, her swings short and a little jerky but only from the pure power of her strikes that fit into the next unexpected step. She didn't let him get his own attack in.

Within a minute she had already managed to knock his weapon to the ground in an undisputed win. The crowd's roar was almost deafening.

Fille leaned to Christina. "That was a really short match, are you--"

Instead of answering, Christina crossed her arms and smiled while facing ahead. Another challenger was already brought in to replace the loser.

Therese defeated a string of guest duelists with barely any effort or time. After a few of them, when the crowd wasn't as loud, Christina finally explained, "We always have a bunch of duelists before Therese's real match, since she's so strong that she beats almost everyone."

"I see," Fille said.

"It really gets the crowd going."

"It...certainly gets Therese going, too."

Christina laughed.

Their seats were so close to the stage that Fille could hear Therese speak. She had never heard her before but her voice wasn't anything like she thought it'd be, thick from the effort of restraining herself, like she was about to yell in the middle of the fight. It was rough without any of the threat of a deep voice.

If she sounded different from what Fille had expected, then she looked like she had hit a switch. Her face had all of the fire that her blade didn't have, its cool surface shimmering through its blur as it was handled with speed. She stopped defending herself with her legs and arms like she did when she was being introduced, her defensive movements now offensive.

The real match began when Ladiva was introduced for battle. Fille understood Ladiva's battle ability well, so she knew that Therese had to be an incredible warrior to have the hawk-eyed management pair her up with Ladiva. She also knew Ladiva wasn't going easy on her as the fight went past a few minutes.

Ladiva had raw strength, but Therese had precise strength and the agility to dodge her. Neither of them cared about their clothes getting torn, and some pieces even caught fire from Therese's sword and the magic imbued to it. The They both grew tired, but even as Therese won, Fille remembered she already had the handicap of being tired from the battles she did earlier.

The announcer held up Therese's arm and heralded her the winner. The audience cheered, filling the air with so much noise that it all rolled across the area like a wind and shook the ship from the walls to the floor. Fille could feel her chair vibrate.

"Well? What do you think?" Christina asked when it died down to a tolerable enough level to permit conversation.

"She's good. You don't need my opinion on this, though, you have a great eye for finding duelists."

"I know I do." Christina continued to watch the stage with Fille. "I know exactly how this casino works, from top to bottom, and I'm perfect at every skill needed to run this place."

Even though the fights were over and most of the crowd had left, and even though there was a backstage exit and Therese had no intention of stepping off the stage into the crowd, some of the fans lingered near the stage, reaching out toward Therese and trying to get her attention. Fille swore she heard someone shout "I love you!" Therese's back was turned toward the exit, so Fille couldn't see the expression on her face, but she imagined Therese was either blushing to struggling to keep a straight face.

Christina stood and made her way to the same exist. Fille had the impression that she was supposed to follow, so she did.

"What're we doing?" Fille asked.

"What does it look like? I'm introducing you to Therese. It's already... So much time has passed since she joined, it's almost unforgivable that I haven't had you meet her yet." Christina opened a door and ushered Fille inside before the fans could get any ideas.

"Are you sure? You didn't even give a warning." Fille hurried to fix her hair as she sidestepped past chairs and other backstage miscellany, summoning quick crystals to see herself and what she needed to fix. She tried to remain neutral, but her voice gave her away; she was a little irritated that Christina hadn't mentioned this before she came.

Ladiva and Therese turned when Christina approached. Therese moved to stand behind Ladiva, but when Ladiva stepped forward and hugged Christina and Fille, Therese froze. She glanced at Fille with a look of horror.

"Christina!" Therese exclaimed. "What're you... Who is..."

"Therese, this is De La Fille, a long time friend of mine and the casino." Christina gestured the introduction without any acknowledgement of Therese's shyness.

"Hi? Hello? I'm... Christina didn't tell me there was anyone important coming, especially backstage. My name is -- oh, Christina said it already, but--"

Fille pulled up the bottom of her dress for a small curtsy. "Pleased to meet you. I'm De La Fille, queen of the Gem Domain."

"Princess?" Therese stuttered. "You're a queen?" She fumbled to perform a clumsy curtsy of her own.

"Oh, there's no need to do it," Fille said with a dismissive wave.

"Then why did--"

"If a queen can't have the most basic grace of treating friends and acquaintances with courtesy, then she can't truly call herself a queen. It is not the job of other people to treat me like royalty, it's my job to make them feel that they're in the presence of royalty." Fille returned eye contact.

Therese shifted on her feet. "O-oh. So, have you been enjoying your stay at the Jewel Resort?"

"She's a regular patron," Christina explained. "I'm surprised you haven't met her yet."

Before Therese could say anything to that, Fille hurried to say, "Well, I haven't been attending duels lately, there must not have been room for us to meet."

"It's about time, then." Christina nodded. "And since I'm here, I wanted you two to meet because De La Fille is also a talented fighter."

"She is?" Therese perked up.

Usually, Fille was the first one to mention her powers -- highlighting it in a tasteful way, of course, more for the sake of advocating lithomancy itself than her prowess, even if she did enjoy the spotlight for her hard work -- but at the moment, Fille didn't want to grandstand herself. She was suddenly very self-conscious of accidentally embarrassing herself.

"N-no, it's not a big deal," Fille said. Christina stared at her.

"Don't listen to her," Christina said after she overcame her surprise. "The Gem Domain is well known for its lithomancy, and Fille is one of the best lithomancers in existence."

"Come now..." Fille said.

"And lithomancy is already very powerful. I thought you'd like to meet a warrior with a different kind of strength, in case you were interested in something new, Therese." Christina glanced away. "I'm going to check on the casino floor now. We hired a few new dealers and they still haven't finished their training. Do as you please, De La Fille." Christina raised her whip in her hands and walked away in a purposeful stride.

"You can fight?" Therese asked. Already her voice was changing, back to the duelist from the stage, rough with excitement and a little deeper.

"Yes I do fight -- I mean, I _can_ fight."

"Are you good at it?"

"Of course. Lithomancy's useful for more than just fighting, but when you know how to use it, fighting comes naturally."

"Can you show me?" Therese leaned forward insistently.

"W-well..." Fille scratched her face, slightly looking away to avoid the pressure of Therese's close intent face.

"Oh." Therese withdrew. "If you don't want to, then that's okay."

"No, I can show you!" Fille said quickly. "Why don't we spar?"

Therese grinned, and she turned on a step away to lead her. "We have a private place for practice. Let's go."

"Now? Oh, alright," Fille said, smiling despite her hesitation.

**Author's Note:**

> (General A/N): Not looking for concrit; don't leave any.
> 
> I have a [gbf twitter.](https://twitter.com/sociyue) join me gbf eng friends


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